The Elephant Fort

Black beauties in chains-
Before the ticket counters,
A long queue does creep
To scatter near the black wonders.

Ears and tails always move,
Ruminating the rhythms of forest.
Elephants are inside the fort,
Exposed to the sky barest.

I hear the hushed emotions
In the clinking of chains.
Hearts smolder in;
Eyes emit lava of pains.

Burning red wild flowers
And tickling streams,
Each elephant longs I know:
But dreams die in chains.

Anakotta, an old fort near Guruvayur in India is a sanctuary, where
many elephants have been housed. All of them are in chains.

First published by Forward Poetry.